At the risk of RUINING EVERYTHING, consider this a somewhat cautious announcement that summer is now finally upon us. The weather is (steadily) improving, the trails are (sort of) drying out, and the over-ripened muddy puddles of a brutally long winter are (mostly) making a slow retreat from our favourite singletrack. I realise I’ve just gone ahead and jinxed all of us, but I’m doing my best to set the scene for this review, so just go with it. And you can blame me when it starts raining again next week. With the arrival of longer evenings and lighter mornings also comes the flurry of mountain bike races and events. Whether it’s a 6, 12 or 24-hour race, a long distance marathon event, or the local club dirt crit series that you’ve got on your radar, the race season is well and truly here for those of us who have finally emerged from our winter hibernation. If you’ve signed up to a race this season, you’ll no doubt be eyeing up those extra hours in...